I'm interested in why people think what they think and in how people think. Recently I've read and heard new information along the "nature vs. nurture paradigm". You know what I'm talking about. Are we conditioned to think in a particular way? Is most of our style of thinking determined by our genes? Are we born with certain propensities and our circumstances either amplify or diminish our abilities? I think it's undoubtedly a combination of all that and more.

Recently I listened to two of my favorite podcasts that had me thinking and googling again topics concerning the mystery of differences in human thought.

"Does Parenting Matter" brings these questions to light in the context of parenting. What are the long-term effects of parental manipulations of children's lives? Will all the work and time spent on our children's education and activities equal a happy, successful, healthy adult? One takeaway for me was the thought that discipline, motivation, conditioning are always contextual and have a temporary effect. As long as you are in a peer group that expresses certain things, as long as you are with your parents and they are actively guiding your choices and behaviors there will be a significant effect. When those conditions are no longer present a person's behavior and beliefs will revert back to an inherent mean. We are our parents children after all. And, we are all influenced by our peers.

I've been interested in this topic for a long time and we're learning more and more about nature vs. nurture every day. I would encourage you to listen to the podcasts. They are particularly interesting.

I'm looking forward to reading Bryan Caplan's:

Click the image for link to Amazon.

In his best-selling book The Myth of the Rational Voter (2007) George Mason University economist Bryan Caplan demythologized the notion that American voters know what they are doing when they step into the ballot booth.

Steven is an autodidact, skeptic, raconteur and film producer from America who has been traveling since he was a zygote. He's a producer at The Muse Films Ltd. in Hong Kong and a constantly improving (hopefully) Globe Hacker. He's seeks the company of interesting minds.